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The National, a UAE-based newspaper, has posted an article
titled “ ”Iran-Brotherhood ties: rooted in history with eye on the
future” which reviews the history of and prospects for the relationship
between Iran and the Global Muslim Brotherhood. The article begins:
A salient feature of Iran’s foreign policy is its ability to build
influence where least expected. With the ascent to power of Sunni
Islamists throughout the region, and Iran’s support of the military
campaign in Syria, many have argued that Iran’s regional standing is in
decline. But the opposite assessment needs to be taken seriously. Iran
has been upbeat about the popular revolts, dubbing them an ‘Islamic
Awakening’ and confident it can build strong ties with the people of the
region after the demise of dictatorial rule in the Arab republics. That
prospect is particularly true with the Muslim Brotherhood and its
offshoots throughout the region – including even those that currently
perceive Iran as an enemy, such as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. A
closer look at the historical links and ideological similarities between
Tehran’s mullahs and Arab Islamists shows that not only could Iran
build ties with the emerging political forces in the region, but that it
could develop a sustainable special relationship. One of the first
encounters between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian figures who later
helped to bring about Iran’s current regime was in Cairo, in 1954.
Sayyid Navvab Safavi, an Iranian leader of the anti-Shah Fadayan-e
Islam, met with senior Brotherhood members to bolster ties. Salim Al
Bahnsawi, a Brotherhood intellectual who died in 2006, said of the
meeting: ‘It’s not surprising that the similarities in approach between
the two groups led to this cooperation’. And Rashid Ghannouchi, leader
of the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia, has even described Fadayan-e Islam
as an offshoot of the Brotherhood.”
Read the rest here.
A
post from August
reported that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was scheduled to attend
the meeting of the Nonaligned Movement to beheld in Tehran at the end of
the month. A
post from June reported that President Morsi denied that he gave an
interview to
an Iranian news agency in which he was supposed to have said that Egypt
would seek closer relations with Iran. Whether or not the interview is
authentic, there are reasons to believe that Egypt under a Muslim
Brotherhood government will seek closer ties to Iran. In a 2009 piece
titled “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Iran, Rapprochement between
Sunnis and Shiites?”, Washington Institute for Near East Policy scholar
Mehdi Khalaji looked at the relationship between the Egyptian
government, the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. According to the
report:
During a February trip to Iran, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal praised
Iranian leaders for their support during the conflict in the Gaza Strip,
a further indication of the strengthening ties between the Sunni
Islamist group, which the United States has designated as a terrorist
organization, and the Shiite regime in Tehran. Mashal’s statements come
on the heels of the U.S. Treasury Department’s terrorist designations of
al-Qaeda leaders and operatives sheltered in Iran. These latest
examples of Sunni-Shiite cooperation raise new questions about whether
Iran can improve its relationship with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. While
such a rapprochement appears unlikely, history suggests it is far from
impossible. Iran has maintained informal ties to the Muslim Brotherhood
for many years, and Shiite Islam probably has more appeal among Egyptian
Sunnis than it does among Sunnis in other Arab countries. Iran’s sharp
criticism of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is also likely to resonate
with Egyptian radicals under the thumb of the regime in Cairo. If Iran
were to develop close relations with the Brotherhood, Iranian influence
would grow considerably in the Arab world, giving Tehran a significant
say among Arab radicals and, undoubtedly, producing dangerous
developments for U.S. interests in the region.
A previous
post had also looked at the possibility of a closer relationship between the Egyptian Brotherhood and Iran.http://www.2911webdesign.com/#!cleos-page/c1582
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